Got up at 5.30 this morning to take my friend Sharons parents back to Heathrow,they live in Florida and have obviously had enough of this current cold spell,one that thankfully appears to be coming to an end,for now anyway,in fact it will only be a month or so until i can probably stop paying ridiculous amounts for my fuel bills,happy days.It was -6c this morning when i got up,not nice.
I left Heathrow at about 8am and decided to head back slowly before my next job at Stansted.I stopped for a sausage and egg mcmuffin at south mimms,very nice,temperature was still -4c not nice.
I decided to drive around the back roads to Lea Valley and Fishers Green in search of Bitterns but by the time i got there it was pretty much time to leave as the next flight was about an hour or so early!!
I did however manage a Water Rail and a 1st winter Med gull,which were 126 & 127 respectively on my Year list.
On arriving home around lunchtime and the temperature now a few degrees above freezing i decided on the Ingrebourne Valley for my next stint birding.Although the temperature was well over freezing,the scrape was frozen solid meaning much of the wildfowl was on the grass,included in that total was 32 teal,around 20 mallards,c70 Moorhens,2 Water rail,20 Snipe and a Heron.I decided to head up to the Reedbeds to see if anything was happening elsewhere on the reserve as it seemed very quiet but again,nothing,well not until the immature male Marsh harrier that is doing the rounds suddenly flew about 5 yards from my head,into the reedbed and then back out again.I had good views of this bird for the next hour or so until i called it a day,mainly due to my bad belly i had picked up from a combination of mcdonalds crap breakfast and chocolate.A couple of Bullfinch rounded off a cold but decent days birding.
Off out again tomorrow but still havent decided where to go yet,its supposed to be 12c but i will take a look at the weather in the morning and make a decision,perhaps i will have a dream about somewhere tonight that may spur me on........who knows.
We went to the hanning fields reservoir, have u been, it's a bird watchers dream. Loads of huts to sit n watch in. It's near stock.
ReplyDeletebeen there a few times my love,always a good day out..they are called hides not huts though my dear!!!
ReplyDeleteOk I'm learning lol
DeleteHi there
ReplyDeleteWas the Marsh Harrier at the Berwick Ponds reed bed or down near the Viewing Point?
Keep up the good work
Urchin
Hi mate,the Marsh harrier came from the Berwick end but i was near the bridge and it flew over my head onto the lake,around it and back towards Berwick.I then watched it about 30 minutes later,from the hill with the bench over the valley towards the berwick end
ReplyDeleteFantastic. Thanks for that, I know exactly where you mean. I briefly saw one over the Valley a couple of years ago near the Heronry, and it's good to know that there is one about now.
ReplyDeleteUrchin